East China's Shandong province held a seminar on June 8 to discuss the deployment and development of industrial internet in the province.

Zhang Ruimin, chief executive officer of Haier Group, and Zhou Yunjie, the group's president, gave presentations on Haier's exploration and practices in industrial internet development.

Zhang expressed belief that the industrial internet will become a new economic driver.

Zhang Ruimin, chief executive officer of Haier Group, gives a presentation at the seminar. [Photo/dzwww.com]

Zhang said that industrial internet platforms should be utilized to empower more enterprises and accelerate the development of hundred-billion-dollar industrial clusters.

Industrial internet refers to a network of combined, advanced machines with internet-connected sensors, which will collect and analyze data from consumers, suppliers and factories. It is designed to allow companies to customize products at speed and scale while boosting productivity and reducing costs.

Zhou Yunjie, president of Haier Group, gives a presentation at the seminar. [Photo/dzwww.com]

COSMOPlat, an industrial internet platform developed by Haier, offers large-scale services in 15 sectors, including ceramics, vehicles, clothing and agriculture.

The platform ranked first among China's cross-industry and cross-sector industrial internet platforms in 2019, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

Yang Dongqi, deputy Party secretary of Shandong, said that Shandong now is in a critical period of accelerating the replacement of old economic growth drivers with new ones, promoting high-quality development, and maintaining stability in six key areas, namely, employment, finance, foreign trade, foreign investment, domestic investment and market expectations.

Shandong top officials talk with Zhang Ruimin and Zhou Yunjie. [Photo/dzwww.com]

Yang said that it is extremely important that industrial internet be developed and industrial transformation and upgrading in Shandong be accelerated.

Government departments at all levels in Shandong are urged to facilitate the development of industrial internet and encourage enterprises to build and use industrial internet platforms.